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“I think I’ll be all right,” Davey said. “Besides, we have little option if we are going to see whether Fergus is there or not – some of him at least.”

“Well,wearen’t staying here either!” Steph snapped.

Davey turned to look at her. He kept his face impassive, but Steph was pretty sure she heard a low growl.

“You will need extra eyes anyway!” Steph finished, starting to clamber out with her own tranquillizer rifle.

“I suspect he probably has enough eyes,” Roger said, leaning back in his chair.

“I had best come too,” Daniel piped up, having watched Steph get out.

“What? Why?”

“Because I have a theory I want to test – a hypothesis on the cave lion’s behaviour,” Daniel replied, his eyes flicking constantly past Davey’s face to wherever they felt safe.

Davey sighed.

“Fine!”

“Well, hold on a minute!” Roger said, standing up. “I’m not going to stay here if he is going!”

“But you were happy enough to stay before?”

“Yes, but that was before I realised everyone else was going. We all know what happens to those who are left alone when things go wrong.”

“What?” Davey asked, checking his rifle.

“They die! Just look at Fergus!”

Davey rolled his eyes as Roger leapt out of the buggy, punctuating his point.

Steph frowned. ‘When things go wrong.’ She had never really thought of it like that. Or had she? She considered the whole enterprise that Kelvin was trying to execute to be a complete mess. It was skewing natural behaviour. She couldn’t see how it couldwork. But was it going wrong? It was designed – albeit unintentionally – to go wrong. Could something already failing, go wrong again? Her stomach churned slightly.

They set off into the trees, Davey leading from the front with Daniel not far behind and Steph bringing up the rear with Roger. To Steph’s eye, Davey seemed far more nervous than his earlier bravado had suggested. He flinched at insignificant noises and constantly wanted to stop and cock his ear. Roger, on the other hand, seemed surprisingly untroubled for someone who hadn’t wanted to come in the first place.

“You seem quite calm,” Steph whispered.

“Well, I must admit I am somewhat concerned but I have spent a long time practising focusing my mind.”

Steph frowned.

“I mean I am scared, obviously, but I can quickly add layers of context which make things easier to handle. For example, I have done enough in life already – more than most anyway – I am getting paid well for this, and, most comforting, I suspect I could probably outrun poor Daniel.”

Daniel must have heard the whisper as he turned around andshot Roger a pitying look.

“I might be older than you, Daniel, but I used to represent my county in athletics before I went to university,” Roger said with a wink.

Daniel turned back around, shaking his head. Steph couldn’t help but laugh which gained her a reproachful look from Davey. They continued in silence. There was little evidence of any large animals. Nothing larger than a squirrel at least. Not even the common sight of churned mud that denoted the movements of wild boar was to be seen. Then Davey began to slow down.

“It was around here somewhere,” he whispered, looking in all directions.

“You do realise the cave lion could be here if this is where it hides food,” Steph replied. She regretted stating the obvious as soon as it left her mouth. It made her feel stupid. Panicky. Of course, they had known that. Davey didn’t even bother looking at her.

They continued moving slowly, examining branches. They were further off the path than she expected to be. It was a quiet, secluded little area. No wonder the lion had thought this a place worth hiding kills in. However, it was quite far from Fergus’s cabin. Too far, surely. They were wasting their time. She knew it then. She should have known it before. Why had she not realised it before? Why would the cave lion drag a kill so far? It wouldn’t, surely?

Birds sang in the trees. This put Steph a little more at ease. Squirrels then jumped overhead, chasing each other down trees. Steph’s finger moved slightly further away from the trigger of her rifle.

With the fear subsiding, in herself at least, Steph noted that the area was quite beautiful in a way. The seclusion gave it a feeling of separateness from what was going on around it. A haven in the chaos. Then a thought crossed Steph’s mind.She opened her mouth. However, the same thought must have simultaneously crossed Daniel’s mind.